Erie, PA. – On Saturday, the Wheeling University Men's Soccer team (2-4-1, 2-2-1) hit the road for one of their toughest challenges of the season when they took on #6 Gannon. The Cardinals managed to get their offense going in the second half, but were never able to rebound as they fell to the Knights 6-2. Wheeling went nearly shot for shot with Gannon in the second half and look to use that momentum through the rest of their conference schedule.

Both teams fought for possession of the ball early on and Gannon got off the game's first shot just two minutes in. The Cardinals first shot came four minutes later courtesy of Diego Buenano that got saved and another shot from Sam Clark went wide. However, the Golden Knights would be first on the board in the ninth minute when Sergio Del Castillo scored to make it a 1-0 game. Del Castillo came back just over a minute later and ripped another shot towards the net, but was denied by Austin Aaron. Through the first 19 minutes of the game, Wheeling held the shot advantage 3-2 and the save by Aaron kept it a one-goal game. However, Wheeling would get off just one more shot over the final 20 minutes of the half. Gannon added another goal at the 42 minute mark and the teams headed to the locker room with Gannon leading 2-0.

The Cardinals knew they had to come out stronger on offense in the second half and they did just that. They took three shots over the first eight minutes of the second half, including two from Christian Ruud. Ruud's first shot in the 52nd minute was saved but he came back one minute later and got Wheeling on the board with his first goal of the year. Wheeling had cut the lead to 2-1, but a Penalty Kick by the Golden Knights two minutes later made it a 3-1 game and put Wheeling down two once again. By the 64th minute, Gannon had scored two more goals and upped their lead to 5-1. In the 67th minute, Head Coach Brandon Regan made a series of subs that got the Cardinals offense going again as they got back on the board.

After a Cole Congson shot missed high, Wheeling got the ball back and this time capitalized on the opportunity. Diego Buenano scored his third goal in the last four games as he made it a 5-2 game. For Buenano, it was his team leading third goal of the season as he continues his early season success. Congson would lead the Cardinal's offense for the rest of the night, taking the team's final four shots. In the 80th minute, Congson nearly made it a two point game when he took back to back shots. The first shot missed high and his second shot went towards net, but was saved. Gannon would add one more goal in the game's 86th minute and brought the contest to it's final 6-2 score.

Diego Buenano led the offense, taking five shots and putting two on goal while scoring a goal, and Christian Ruud followed right behind him with a goal on two shots taken. Harry Martin added three shots on the day, one on goal, while Cole Congson tied for the team lead with five shots taken, one on goal. Austin Aaron got the start in net and ended up making five saves on 11 shots faced throughout the night in his second start of the season.

The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team returns to action on Wednesday, September 21st when they host West Liberty at 7:30 PM.